


Initiation

by Silver_Warrior_Wolf



Category: Inspector Gadget (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 08:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7611469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silver_Warrior_Wolf/pseuds/Silver_Warrior_Wolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The saying goes: Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them. Watch as a simple security guard transforms into the Inspector we know and love today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prolog

"Gadget! Gadget, speak to me! John!"

There were multiple voices all around him, but these are the only words that he can understand clearly. The rest are more hushed, and he's really only half there, so only snippets would be heard anyways.

"Please...quiet..."

"Needs rest...not quite...more time..."

The woman who spoke first spoke up again. "That's my brother you're playing cut and paste with, and you expect me to take things quietly?!"

He struggled to lift his head and listen in more, but the strain was too much. He slumped back down, not certain if it was sleep or death that was overtaking him. Either way, the pain started to fade.

He had never imagined anything like this would ever happen to him, but wasn't that what everyone who had something odd and traumatic happen thought? He wouldn't have guessed anything like this would have come about simply because he had asked for some time off...


	2. Chapter One

Life had never really played out as John Gadget expected it too. Of course that was bound to happen when one went about life with the attitude he did. In his eyes, everything was full of bright prospects. Every since his childhood, strangers were merely friends that he hadn't met yet. Every setback was an opportunity in disguise. Certainly nothing bad can happen when he attempted to make an improvised parachute out of a chopped up old table cloth.

You'd think that disappointment after disappointment would have left him without any optimism left, especially when one was currently living in the foster system. With many people, this would be the case. However, Gadget wasn't many people. He was the sort of person to whom the glass was always half full, and as long as one tried to do their best with what they knew and had, everything would turn out alright.

Because of this attitude, from a young age, Gadget worked to always do good. He had a strong sense of honor and justice, and always did everything he did to help others. He'd work tirelessly to discover why vases were broken. He'd spend days on end trying to find out who kept tracking mud through the carpet. Any instance of bullying or teasing was intervened with post-haste. With all this already being done, it was no surprise when he was six that he decided to become a police officer when he grew up.

Unfortunately, what he made up for with honor and enthusiasm, he lacked in, well, intelligence and grace. Very often, the vase had been broken by the cat, and his investigation wound up with six more plates and a pitcher broken. The mud mystery would never get solved, no matter how many times he went from the community mud puddle back to the living room. No matter how many times he tried to stop the offending bully, he'd usually just end up on the receiving end.

Not that it really mattered to John Gadget. That just meant he needed to work and try harder next time. He always tried to be the good guy, after all, and the good guy always won.

As you can imagine, this did not always earn him friends. One of the main reasons he kept getting sent from foster home to foster home was that no one seemed to know quite what to do with him. No explanation seemed to properly get through to him, and while his enthusiasm and desire to please was very refreshing, his sheer clumsiness made him exhausting.

He did, eventually, get one close friend, when he was about eight. That was Andrea Mullan, another foster child. She was a little younger than him, and had come to the foster home shortly after he had. John had tried to make friends with her, as he did with every new foster brother or sister who came along, but the shy little blonde didn't seem like she wanted to play.

That changed one day, about two and a half weeks after her arrival. Gadget had been outside, on another one of his missions, this time to figure out just why the elm tree in the back was determined to eat every one of his toys (including the dump truck) when he spotted Andrea in a bit of pinch.

"Hey, come back!" the girl had called out. "That's mine!"

Surprised by the sudden cry, he spun around to see what was going on. It was one of the bigger boys who went by the name Tugg, who had spotted Andrea and decided to show her who was boss. Currently, he was holding a small stuffed dog over her head.

"It's mine now!" Tugg smirked as Andrea attempted to snatch her toy back.

Now, it was just instances like this that made Gadget's blood boil. "That's not yours, Tugg," Gadget said in the most authoritarian voice he could muster. "Give it back to her now."

Tugg scowled. This was not the first time he'd had collisions with Gadget. "Well, looks like its Goody Two-Shoes Gadget to the rescue again," he sneered. "Who's gonna make me? You?"

"If you don't give that toy back now," Gadget responded, "then I will be forced to."

That made Tugg laugh, considering he had about a year and a five inches on Gadget. "Oh, yeah? Well, why don't you try?"

Gadget didn't reply. Instead, he jumped up and attempted to snatch the stuffed dog away. Tugg responded by tossing the dog up in a quick movement so that it snagged on the top of the gutter, and in the next by swinging his leg out so that Gadget tripped on his way down.

Well, the trip succeeded, but the way that Gadget fell had him grab out for anything to catch himself, which in the case meant Tugg's shirt. Thus, both boys went down in an ungraceful heap.

Tugg squirmed out of the mess first, and it was a moment before Gadget realized that he could get up easily on his own. He pushed himself up, initially looking around to see where the bully had gotten off to, but stopping when he spotted Andrea again. "M-my Puppy," she whimpered.

Gadget wasted no time in rushing over to her side. "Don't worry," he said, flashing a bright smile. "I'll get him for you."

"But how will you?" she asked in dismay. "He's a bijillion feet up!"

"Well, I can climb up a bijillion and five feet!" Gadget responded proudly, and before she could ask in confusion what he meant, he had already grasped a hold of the column the gutter was attached to and was on his way up.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Andrea asked from bellow.

"Of course it is!" was the confident response. "I've climbed up a thousand different things, and I only fall down a couple of times! And I only cry a little when I do!"

This wasn't all that reassuring, but the little girl really wanted her stuffed dog back, so she watched hoping the boy was able to make it like he said he could. Things were looking up, and he was able to make it to the top! He grinned brightly, unhooking the toy from its imprisonment and dropping it back down to its owner. Only once he was finished with his mission did he lose his grip and fall like a rock.

It could have been much worse. He escaped that incident with a scolding and a fractured wrist. The wrist he could take; it wasn't the first time John Gadget had gotten broken bones, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. The yelling was worse, though. He always wanted to please, but nothing he did every seemed to turn out right. It looked like he was doomed to be a disappointment to everyone.

That night, though, he had found that someone did not consider him a disappointment. He had been sitting outside on the swing, board out of his wits since he wasn't allowed to watch the TV and his wrist really kept him from doing anything. Frankly, he expected to spend the night alone, and was surprised to see the little blonde girl from earlier come out and join him.

There were a few moments of silence before she spoke. "Thank you for rescuing Puppy," she said quietly.

"Don't think about it ma'am. It's all in a day's work." He wasn't quite sure what that meant, but the police officers on TV said it all the time, so that must have been what was to be said.

There was another moment of silence before he spoke up again. "My name is John Gadget, by the way. Most people just call me Gadget, though."

"My name's Andrea," she responded. "Why do people call you by your last name?"

Gadget thought for a moment. He had never given it much thought. "I'm not really sure. I just always have been." He shrugged. "I kinda like it, though. It sounds neat, like I'm a well-oiled machine of the law." He smiled. "That's what I'm gonna be one day, ya know. A police officer, I mean. Not a machine."

"I know." She smile back for a moment, before looking down again.

"How 'bout you?" he asked, completely missing the note of sadness.

"Excuse me?" She gave him a confused glance. "What do you mean?"

"When you grow up." He began to swing, becoming pleased with the world again. "What do you want to do?"

She froze for a moment, not quite certain of how to respond. "I...well...I don't know."

"Well, that's good, too." He laughed. "I guess that means you can try everything!"

That was when an idea came to her. "Could I...help you? To try to help people, I mean."

He paused for a moment when he heard the question. He had never had a partner before and he hadn't considered getting one, but it seemed to be a good idea. After all, even the best of crime fighters often needed some backup.

"That would be great," he responded with a bright smile. "I'll bet ya, between the two of us, no criminal would dare to show his face."

After that day, the two of them grew closer and closer. The two of them slowly began to play off of each other, and the odd partnership began improving each of them for the better. Andrea, though she was younger than Gadget, was brighter and more graceful. As such, she often noticed several important (and often obvious) ties to their "cases" that he would overlook. At the same time, he kept her from getting too wrapped up in distressing happenings in her surroundings, bringing her to look at the brighter side of things and generally cheering her up. The mutually beneficially partnership went on like this in such a way that people often assumed that they were siblings by birth, though neither looked anything like the other.

This closeness did not go unnoticed. Several months after the two of them had met, a couple named Jason and Sophia Brown had come to the foster home looking to adopt, and it didn't take long for the duo to get noticed. They were quickly adopted, and the two of them continued to work together in their new home. Their new parents were loving, and the two children lived happy lives. As they grew up, they remained very close, though their paths often took them in different directions.

Their determination to bring justice to the world continued, even into adulthood. Andrea especially showed skill in it. Thus, upon reaching college she entered the criminal justice program, and upon graduating, took a position in the Riverton Police Department.

While there, it turned out that she had attracted the attention of unexpected folks.

"Brown," Chief Veras called out to her one day, about three years after she had joined the force. "I want to see you in my office."

Andrea wasn't quite sure why she was being called in, but she obeyed. "Yes, sir?" she asked as she entered. "Is there something you want to speak to me about?"

The chief, a short blond man, was sitting at his desk. Nearby, a brown haired man with a mustache and glasses was also present.

"Come in, Brown," the chief instructed, motioning to a nearby seat. Once she was seated, Veras turned to the man. "Here's the lady I was talking to you about. Brown, this is Philip Quimby. He's a member of W.O.M.P."

"W.O.M.P.?" the blonde woman responded. "I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I've never heard of W.O.M.P."

"That's quite alright, Officer Brown," Quimby responded. "Not many people have. We are the World Organization of Mega Powers, a group that handles crime on an international level."

"International?" she asked. "You mean like Interpol?"

"Sort of. Interpol focuses mostly on bridging communications between two different police forces." He adjusted his glasses as he answered. "We, on the other hand, take a more...active approach in crime solving.

"Now, to the business at hand." Here, Quimby pulled a file out his jacket. "We've been hearing very good things about you, young lady. You've managed to impress quite a few people at very high levels. We were wondering if you would consider coming to work for us in Metro City. You'd get to do just what you are doing now, but it would be on a much larger level."

"Really? You mean it?" The young woman grew very excited at the prospect. "I'd love too!" Then her expression darkened. "Except..."

Quimby noted her pause. "You have some hesitations, I see."

"It's just that, my brother and I both live here, in Riverton." She looked down as she answered. "My parents passed away recently, and my brother is all I have left now. I'm not quite sure I can just up and leave him."

"I understand." Quimby gathered up the papers as he got up. He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to her. "The position is open, if you change your mind. Just feel free to call."

Andrea still felt like this was an opportunity she didn't want to miss. Still, she didn't just want to up and leave the city without having word with Gadget about it.

"That sounds like a great idea!" he encouraged when she broached the subject to him that night. She had been mulling over the question all day and had finally decided just to bite the bullet and mention it to him.

"Do you really think so?" she asked, somewhat surprised by his enthusiasm.

"Of course I do," he restated. "This is exactly what we were practicing for since we were kids. You'll be helping out people all over the world."

"There in lies the rub," she said, her head still stuck on her major problem. "To have those world-wide contacts, I'd have to go to Metro City."

Gadget paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Metro City?" he asked as he set the food down. "But isn't that two states over?"

"Yeah," Andrea sighed. "That's where the W.O.M.P. HQ is located. I'd have to stay around there to be ready for the moment I'm sent out on a mission."

He frowned at this information for a moment, but then gave a sad smile. "I still think you should take it."

"Really?" she asked, somewhat incredulously.

"Sure," he responded, trying to brighten up a bit. "Sure, I'd miss you a whole lot, but don't hold yourself back for me. Like I said before, this is a great opportunity to really make a difference, and I'd feel really awful if you missed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because of me. Besides," he added with a more genuine laugh, "Scolex Industries has a building over there, too. If I do well enough here for a few years, them maybe I can be transferred to security over there."

"I sure hope you're not still working security for those taskmasters in a few years," his sister laughed. "What hours do they have you working this week?"

"Eight pm to eleven am, every day," Gadget answered, glancing down at his watch as he said so. "Speaking of which, I'd better head out. It's just past seven thirty, and Mr. Dillard said he'd mount my head if I was late again." He quickly snatched up his coat. "This time next week?"

"Actually, would you mind doing this again tomorrow?" she asked in a quiet voice. "If I'm going to take the W.O.M.P. job, I'd like to spend a little more time with you before I go."

"Tomorrow's great!" He looked down at his watch again. "Oh, shoot! I forgot! This watch is ten minutes slow!" With that, he tried to dash out, just about knocking another patron down on his way out.

After that conversation, Andrea called Quimby back to let him know that she was going take the job. A few weeks later, she stood in the main HQ in Metro City, on her own again for the first time since she was five.

As she walked through the building, she couldn't help but look nervously at the various doors that went into different hallways, which undoubtedly went to different rooms, which served who know what purpose. _This place is a maze_ , she couldn't help but think to herself. _How am I going to find my way around?_

She was so focused on figuring out where she was that she almost totally missed someone calling out her name. "Agent Brown! Agent Brown, over here!"

She spun around to see a tall man with light brown hair and glasses coming up to her. "Andrea Brown, my name is Daniel Dollar," he said, holding out his hand. "I'm one of the technologists who works here, and I've been assigned to help with with your mission tech. I'll also be showing you around today."

She gave a smile. "Nice to meet you, Dan. I'm glad I'll have a little help around here."

"It's, uh, Daniel, actually," the man said, blushing and rubbing the back of his head in an awkward manner. "I'm not exactly comfortable with nicknames."

"Alright, then, Daniel it is." She smiled and turned back to the building. "So, where exactly are we going to today?"

As the two of them went through the building that day, the foundations of a close working partnership was laid down. As they worked in tandem with each other, they began to spend more and more free time hanging around, and soon, they were calling it what it was. After about a year and half of dating, Daniel proposed, and the wedding date was planned.

Despite the distance, the Brown siblings kept in close contact, and Gadget was one of the first people to learn when Andrea and Daniel became engaged. Indeed, he could barely hold in his enthusiasm, and nearly as soon as he received the invitation that he went down to his superior at Scolex Industries to ask for a little time off so that he could attend his sister's wedding in Metro City.

Trouble all began when Irving Scolex himself happened his hear of his request.

Irving Scolex was about as different a man from John "Gadget" Brown as was possible. Where Gadget was happy to do even the smallest jobs he was given to give help to someone in need, Scolex was wildly ambitious and discontent with anything less than total domination.

As a result of this discontent, Scolex had founded a criminal empire, known to the outside world simply as M.A.D. It was extremely successful, raking the overlord even more money than Scolex Industries did, but money wasn't what he wanted.

What he wanted, and what both legitimate and criminal empires gave him, was power. Power over as many individuals as possible. Power to strike fear, to bend others to his will. That was what Scolex enjoyed. He held more of this power under his M.A.D. pseudoname, Dr. Claw, now more than ever.

He was troubling over how to handle a certain situation in relation to the evil organization when he passed by the head security officer's headquarters and happened to hear a bit of what was being spoken of.

"You see," someone was saying, "my sister's wedding's going to be on the eighteenth in Metro City, and, well, I'd like to be able to attend. If you don't mind, I'd like to have a bit of time off. I know that's a while from now, but I'd like to be able to make sure I can call her back, and RSVP, whatever that is…"

This peeked Scolex's interest, and he leaned in the office to see what was going on. Inside, Dillard was sitting at his desk, speaking to another man. Dillard was a huge man with a rather thuggish face. He was of the type that Scolex usually hired: interested enough in his job to keep people out, interested enough in money to look the other way when necessary. The other man, however, was someone Scolex hadn't seen before.

Seeing the boss leaning into the room, Dillard jumped to attention. "Mr. Scolex, sir! Didn't see you there. What can I do for you, sir?"

"Mr. Scolex, huh?" the other man said with a smile. "Well isn't that a funny coincidence? You've got the same name as this company! Isn't that funny?" It became very clear to Scolex that this man was a simpleton.

"Yes, that would be because the company is named after me," he said, a tone of annoyance clear in his voice. "I'm Irving Scolex."

"Nice to meet you, Irv, er, I mean boss," the man replied in a friendly voice, clearly not having picked up on the tone. "My names John Brown, but my friends all call me Gadget."

"Yes, Brown, I'm sure it is," Scolex responded, rolling his eyes. This guard's cheerfulness was already getting on his nerves. "Now, if I heard you right, did you say you wanted to take a trip to Metro City pretty soon?"

Gadget nodded quickly. "Yep, I did. My sister, Andrea, is getting married very soon, and I was hoping that I would be able to get some time off so that I can attend the wedding."

An idea, formed when he first heard Gadget speak, was growing in Scolex's mind. "Would you mind stepping out for a moment, Brown? I'd like to speak to Dillard for a moment about some private matters."

Hearing this, Gadget's face fell. "But what about my time off?"

"I'll tell you personally what your officer says here in a few minutes," Scolex snapped. "Just wait outside, please."

"Alright, sir," Gadget relented before stepping outside.

Once the other man was out of earshot, Scolex turned quickly to Dillard. "What kind of man is that Brown?"

Dillard laughed. "John Brown? He's a cop-show wannabe. Seems to have weird ideas about how everything's supposed to go."

"What about the 'dealings,' especially the Slickstein and Bradford affairs?" Scolex turned quickly to make sure they weren't being listened in on. "Does he know anything about them, and what is his price?"

"Hasn't a clue," Dillard laughed again. "Brown's so dense, he wouldn't notice an a-bomb being snuck into the building right in front of him, though I can't tell you how many suspicious old ladies I've been told of. Or dogs. Or cactuses.

"As for his price," the guard laughed, "he doesn't have one."

"That's impossible." Scolex frowned at the information. "Every man has his price."

"John Brown ain't every man." Dillard took a long drink of coffee. "Like I said before, he's got weird ideas about how everything's supposed to go. Everything's supposed to be done right to the letter of the law. He's as untouchable as Elliot Ness, though as effective a Jacques Clouseau."

Scolex thought for a moment before grinning. "Brown," he called out. "Come back in. I've made up my mind."

"You have?" Gadget asked, brightening up when he heard he was called. "Oh, good."

"Yes, and I've decided _not_ to give you the time off."

Hearing this new, Gadget adopted a rather dejected look. "You have? But my sister's wedding…"

"Oh, don't worry," Scolex said, giving as friendly a smile as he possibly could. "You'll still get to see her down the aisle. You see, I have a bit of business that I have to do in Metro City, and I'd appreciate someone like you coming along for a bit of extra security. You'll still be able to attend dear Edina's marriage, and still receive the pay you'd have gotten."

"It's Andrea, and really?" Gadget looked up. "That would be great! I'll call her right away!" With that, he hurried right out to go inform his sister.

"Really? You want him to go?" Dillard was confused. "I've already told you, he's got no idea about the 'dealings.'"

"Which is what makes him perfect," Scolex responded. "I've been intending to go to Metro City to make sure that no nosey agents were poking around in the Gadget Program. I've worked too hard to get the plans for a cyborg agent to let everything just fail. However, I can't get caught with my hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, and having someone like Brown around would be beneficial if something like that were to happen. If W.O.M.P. or the cops get too nosy about M.A.D.'s dealings, then he's the perfect sap to pin it on. The halfwit's got no idea what he's walking right into."

Completely unaware that he was being taken advantage of, Gadget happily went along with the plan. From his point of view, it seemed to be the perfect arrangement. He loved his job, so he had no problem with protecting the few shipments being sent from Riverton to Metro City during the day, and going over to visit his sister and future brother-in-law afterwards. He never questioned what were in these deliveries, which was just what Scolex wanted.

"So, there just letting you come?" Andrea asked, a tone of skepticism more than clear in her voice. "That's a first."

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Her brother, as usual, completely missed out on her hesitancy. "Mr. Scolex said that he was already going to conduct some business in Metro City anyway, and since it was around the same time as the wedding, I might was well come to provide the security."

He was about to continue when an angry voice, which was loud enough to be heard over the phone, thundered at him. "Brown! What the heck happened to the lamp in the lobby down stairs!? Don't pretend you can't hear me, Brown! I know it was you!"

"Sorry, Andrea," Gadget apologized when he heard the voice. "I'll call you back later. See you soon."

"See you soon," Andrea sighed before setting the phone down. She leaned down for a moment as questions began flooding her mind.

"Was that John?" She looked up and saw Daniel standing in her office doorway.

She smiled, chuckling at how odd it was to hear her brother's proper name used. "Yeah. He was just calling back to let us know he'd be attending."

Where her brother had been oblivious to her hesitancy, her fiancé was not so. "You say that like you got some bad news."

She shrugged. "Not bad news, par say. Just weird, that's all."

"Has to do with the fact that he works for Scolex Industries, doesn't it," the light haired man asked.

She smiled at the comment. "You know me too well. It's just that, that place runs him like a pack mule, rarely giving him a day off. Then suddenly and corresponding right at the time that Professor Slickstien and the Bradfords vanish, Scolex himself travels over to Metro City, and brings Gadget with him."

"You don't think John is working with M.A.D., do you?" Daniel asked with a certain hesitancy.

"Of course not. There's a higher chance of me working for them." The haste in her answer made her opinion clear. "However, its not impossible that he's being used by them." She chewed her lip as she pondered how to phrase her thoughts. "My brother means well, but he's always been so...trusting. He instantly takes anyone's word for granted, and will do whatever they ask of him, no questions asked. Especially when he views them as having some sort of authority over him."

"And with the suspicions that have popped up about Scolex Industries, you think there's a chance he's being played for a fool," her fiancé finished.

"I know the Scolex-M.A.D. connection is only a suspicion," she sighed as she got up and grabbed her jacket, "and we're not supposed to tell anyone because of it, but I wish there was some way we could warn him. You know, get him to take a job elsewhere."

Daniel smiled as he handed Andrea her scarf. "Well, you did bring up the possibility of him coming here and working with us. What did Quimby say?"

"He was hesitant, but willing to look into it." Andrea straightened her hat before turning to leave the office. "I just hope Nozziare isn't on the team looking into him. You know what a stickler he can be."

"Yeah, there's no telling how he'd respond to John," her boyfriend laughed. He put an arm around her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "Just relax. Even if there is some Scolex Industries-M.A.D. connection, I'm sure John's far enough away from it. He'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," she responded in a low tone, "but I'm still worried you might not be."

These feelings were easily hidden, though, and for a good while, everything went according to plan. The wedding happened towards the end of the month. All congratulated the happy couple, and a few guests stayed for a little while afterwards. Gadget was one of them, but after a while, it came time for even him to be heading back.

Things would have gone back to normal, except for the day that Andrea and Scolex actually met. Since Gadget had been in town, the young woman had decided to drop by the Scolex building on the pretense of saying goodbye to her brother. She would drop by for a visit, of course, during which she would find a way to conveniently "forget" her purse in a way that would allow her to search the building later. While she did, she would get a closer look into the building to get a feel for what was going on.

Everything had begun just as it might have on a normal day. Nearly as soon as she had entered the building, she sought out Gadget. This was not difficult to do, considering he was often posted at the guard posts in the lobby.

"Andrea!" he called out when he realized his sister was there. "I wasn't expecting to see you today."

"What can I say?" she responded with a smile. "I just had to say goodbye to my big brother one more time before you head off tonight."

"Well, I'm more than pleased to see you," he responded. "Are you and Daniel set up in the new house?"

The two of them began to chat a bit. Andrea felt a bit guilty about working on a mission through her brother's connection to this company, but she swallowed it by reminding herself that if she could prove there was something going on here, she could get Gadget away from this place.

She had just played at absentmindedly placing her purse on a gurney filled with packages when a man wandered over to them. "Brown," he called out. "Have you seen to it that the boxes I specified were placed where I instructed."

Gadget turned for a moment and nodded. "Yes, sir, Mr. Scolex. I made certain that they were moved there immediately, and by someone else, just as you ordered."

When Andrea heard the man's name, she grew nervous and began looking for a way to edge out of the room without anyone noticing. Gadget, however, didn't catch this anxiety and quickly began to introduce her.

"I'm glad you're here," he said quickly to his boss. "I'd like you to meet my sister, Inspector Andrea Dollar. Andrea, this is Irving Scolex. He owns this company, which is why it has the same name as him."

The moment that Andrea and Scolex look right at each other, suspicion immediately filled them. Scolex had heard the word _inspector_ and realized that the woman had grown pale when it was said. Likewise, the young agent could see that the businessman was hiding something that he didn't want a police inspector to know on. Inwardly, both made a mental not to look more deeply into the other.

As usual, Gadget was one hundred percent oblivious to this mutual distrust. "I'm glad you two were able to meet," he said cheerfully. He was about to go on, but Andrea cut him off.

"I wish I could talk more," she said, gently touching her brother's arm, "but I really should get going. I just realized there's something I need to talk to Daniel about." This wasn't a lie. She wanted to bring up to her husband and the rest of W.O.M.P. that she was certain that she knew who Dr. Claw was.

"Of course," Scolex said equally fast. "There's other business I need to attend to as well. Just make certain that everything is ready for transport, Brown." When he was certain that Andrea couldn't hear, he added, "Just so you are aware, we'll need to head out a bit later than expected."

"Well, alright, sir." Just like that, nearly as fast as he had received company, Gadget was on his own once more. He sighed, disappointed at being left alone so quickly, but turned quickly back into his work.

As she rushed out, Andrea quickly flipped a switch on the device in her pocket, triggering the tracking device. She'd head into the Scolex building that night and see what she could dig up. She still felt bad that she hadn't told Gadget the whole truth, but she'd be certain he knew as soon as it was safe to tell him.

Scolex scowled. Well, at least now he had an idea of who might be the W.O.M.P. agent that had been snooping around. He clutched the purse she had left behind tight in one hand. _We'll have to arrange a welcoming party for Mrs. Dollar,_ he thought.

That night, Andrea went back to the Scolex building with the plan to go and search inside for her "purse." It was late enough that Scolex would already be on his way back to Riverton, meaning that he would have no idea she'd been snooping around. As an added bonus, Gadget would also be far away, taking him far from the danger.

However, things rarely go as they are planned. The young agent was able to make it into the building, but she hadn't gone too far inside when someone called out to her. "Andrea! What are you doing here at this time of night?"

Hearing the call, she froze. Gadget. What was _he_ doing here right now? He should have been on his way back to Riverton.

She straightened out and tried to mask his surprise. "Oh, uh, yeah. Hi, Gadget," she answered, giving an awkward smile. "I just sort of left my purse here, earlier. I'll just run in to look for it and get out if your hair. It's probably just in the lost and found, anyway."

"I just came back from the lost and found," he responded, "and I didn't see any purse there."

He had? Of course he had.

"You know what," he said, patting his sister on the shoulder. "I'll go look in the back and see if anyone took it back there."

"Oh, don't bother," she put in, trying to move ahead of him. "I'll take a look myself. I'm sure you're very busy."

"Now, now, Andrea, I know you're my sister, but rules are rules," he responded, moving to block her path. "No unauthorized personnel in the back. I'll just go back and take a quick look. It won't take five minute." With that, he left, leaving the blonde woman alone.

She would not see him again that night.

To be continued...


	3. Chapter Two

Just as he had promised, he moved into the back of the building, searching for anywhere that a stray purse had been taken. As he did so, he moved past a door that had never been open when he had been there before. It was opened now, and a stream of light was beaming out of the crack. There were voices, too, but he couldn't really make them out.

Deciding to see if any of the speakers knew where his sister's purse had gotten to, Gadget opened the door more and leaned in. "Excuse me," he began, "I have to ask-whoah!"

Before he could finish, his sleeve caught on the handle and pulled him down farther and deeper into the room than he intended to go, ripping the cloth in the process. In response, a heavy sack that was soaked in something was thrown over his head and a hand pressed the cloth to his mouth and nose. He struggled against his attacker, but it wasn't very easy, and was made harder by the sweetly-rotten smelling liquid on the sack. He was forced to take several breaths of the stuff after which he fell unconscious

Scolex grinned to himself when he heard the thud. He had his W.O.M.P. spy now. However, when he turned around, he saw that the figure clearly couldn't be Andrea Dollar. The figure was clearly male.

"What is going on?" he snapped at a minion. "Who is that?"

The man took the sack off. "Uh, it looks like Brown, sir," the crony said dumbly.

Scolex froze. Brown. Of course it was Brown. Dollar was with the police, but where better to put a spy then within the company itself. He was just playing the part of the dullard to keep people from expecting that he worked for W.O.M.P. It was rather ingenious, actually.

"It looks like we've caught our W.O.M.P. spy, gentleman," Dr. Claw laughed, "and our volunteer for the Gadget Program! Let's go tell the good doctors the news."

As they left, the villain couldn't help but chuckle to himself as his men hauled off the prisoner. Hadn't the spy said that his nickname was "Gadget?" It was quite fitting. Or it would be, as soon as the project was finished.

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Gadget's head swam as he slowly woke up. Despite the nauseating effect, he attempt to figure out where he was and how he had gotten there. He couldn't see anything despite his efforts. However, he could hear, and there was someone talking. "You refuse?"

"You heard right. These projects were never meant to work in conjunction with each other. Attempting to combine them could be disastrous; even if the tech can work together, there's no telling how he'll handle it."

"To do what you want would be nothing less than mutilation. We will never succumb to what you want."

Gadget struggled to shake himself awake when he started to hear the voices. They were all clearly discernible, though only one of them was familiar.

It was Scolex who had spoken first, there was no doubt about that. The other two voices, however, were unfamiliar. The one that had responded to Scolex first was an older man, and the one who had backed him up was a young woman. What they were arguing about was still a mystery to the unconscious security guard.

Trying to force himself awake, it took all of Gadget's efforts get his eyes open. There was a bright light shining directly in his face, and the shock of it caused him to squeeze his eyes shut once again and let out a soft moan.

Recovering from the shock of light, he attempted to raise his hand above his eyes to shield them, but found to his dismay that his arm had been strapped down by his side. Feeling this, he forced his eyes open once again and this time found that he had been strapped by the shoulders, arms, and legs to some sort of table. When he caught sight of this, he let out a sharp cry of dismay.

This had not gone unnoticed. Hearing the cry, the speaking individuals turned to him. Gadget could now see that there were four people along with him: Scolex, two older looking men, and a woman who was close to his own age. He couldn't recognize any of the latter three.

Seeing him wake up, Scolex turned towards the captive and gave an uncannily cat-like smile. "Well, Agent Brown, back among the land of the living are we?"

"'Agent'?" Gadget repeated, confused and still somewhat drowsy. "What are you talking about, Scolex?"

"It's Claw, here," the other man replied with a smirk, "but I suspect you knew that already. Certainly W.O.M.P. would have told you about who you were sent to spy on."

"W.O.M.P? I don't work for W.O.M.P.," the captive responded, trying to sound clear despite the heavy amount of drowsiness.

Dr. Claw laughed again. "Still playing the part of the fool, eh, agent. Well, no matter. Soon, there will be another role you well play, and whether you want to or not, it's a role you will play."

Gadget looked up I confusion for a moment before feeling the table he was strapped to roll away. Without learning anything about what was said during his unconsciousness or what his fate was to be, he was taken away. He did, however, have one hint, and while he didn't understand it at the time, he would come to know very well what it meant.

"Well, my good doctors," the villain had said in a dark voice, "refusing to begin the Gadget Program will not change Agent Brown's fate. You will not leave, but if you will not initiate the procedure, I will find others who will."

Pain. All of the next few weeks could be summed up in that word. Gadget wasn't quite aware to what was happening to him, but all that he knew was that it hurt. Day and night were nonexistent in the experience of it all.

What had happened was that Scolex made good on his word. Even though Professor Slickstein and the Doctor Bradfords had refused to play any part in his scheme, Scolex had handed over to work to other scientists who did not have the skill and experience that the people who designed it had. Thus, even though he had been kept under an amount of anesthetic, the poor victim was in a lot of pain.

Eventually, things got so bad within the work that it didn't look like poor Gadget had much of a chance of survival at all. It was at this time that the three captives relented and worked themselves to mend what had been done to the casualty. They did not like was to be done, but the only other option was to leave the man to die a wretched death.

Thus, the Gadget Program went underway for real.

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Meanwhile, enough time had passed that people were becoming scared. When Gadget never came back, Andrea had become more and more frightened. When she had waited about an hour, she went to go look for him herself.

All she had found was the small bit of cloth. Nothing else remained to even hint that he had ever been in the building.

Within the next twenty-four hours, there was a missing person's report on the lookout for John Brown. Of course, Scolex was questioned just about immediately as soon as the question came up, but his response just was that the security guard had never turned up at the proper time, and that it had been assumed that he had merely forgotten the leaving time.

Of course, that was not nearly enough for the Dollars, but without any sort of hard evidence to prove that the billionaire had anything to do with Gadget's disappearance, all they could do was wait and hope that Gadget would be found soon. As time wore on, that hope began to fade, and it soon seemed impossible that even his corpse would be found.

It had been nearly two and a half months when a hope finally arose, though it wasn't recognized as one at the time. New intel had come into W.O.M.P. of a secret lab founded out in a suburb of Metro City. There was good evidence that it was a M.A.D. lab, and that something big was going down in it, so of course it was decided that someone would have to go investigate into what was going on.

Of course, that agent was Andrea. She had been studying the M.A.D. files for nearly as long as they had existed, and the disappearance of her brother had only intensified her search into the organization. As soon as she could head out, she did.

The origin point was innocent enough: a small packaging plant about sixty miles outside the city. This was far enough away that it was a good distance from the city, but close enough that common trips out would not seem all too suspicious. Seemed like a good area to hide a lab for all sorts of unethical experiments.

The area was guarded, but not heavily enough that she had a hard time getting in. After all, it was her business to be able to get in and out of buildings without being noticed. Once she was in, she donned the disguise of a lab assistant and deeply hoped that she wouldn't be too thoroughly examined. The small gun and the computer chip with her escape plan was tucked away in an inner pocket of her lab coat.

As she moved in, a voice came to her over the small communicator in her ear. "Andrea, are you in? Can you hear me?"

She gave a small smile as she heard her husband's voice. W.O.M.P. made a point to team up family members. They had the tendency to either work the best together or the worst.

"Roger that," she said in a hushed voice. "This is definitely a M.A.D. facility."

"Do you have any proof of it?"

She smirked up at the large cat emblem painted on a far wall. "You can call it an informed guess," she answered as she took a picture. "These guys really have no sense of subtlety."

"Good job. Just keep a lookout for any more activity. The more we have on these guys, the better. When you're ready, give the signal, and your backup will arrive. H.Q., over and out."

She didn't bother to respond, just quickly shutting communicator off with a gesture that was easily mistaken for her brushing hair out of her face. No use in the enemy figuring out about her though the electronic signal.

Moving as quietly as she could, she began searching through the halls as inconspicuously as she could. They now had plenty to prove that this facility was indeed a project of M.A.D., but she was making sure that there was nothing of importance to be salvaged that would be destroyed in the oncoming invasion.

The agent finally found just what she was looking for in a small room that had monitors to just about every room in the facility. It was perfect; ever secret lab, room, and prison cell was monitored from this room. Nothing was currently hidden from Andrea Dollar.

That was when she spotted it. One of the computers showed something that was of great interest to the agency, and had been for a while. It showed an operating room, and inside it was the three missing scientists, who were currently working on a figure that had his face covered with a whit cloth.

Grinning in victory, Andrea hurried out of the room. She would brace the former captives for the coming rescue and then give the signal.

Thankfully, the room was not heavily guarded. Due to her disguise, Andrea was able to make her way into the operating room without much trouble. The captives themselves were in a more inner portion of the room, with two hulking guards standing watch outside.

As she moved towards the door, one of the guard grabbed her shoulder to stop her. "No goin' in there, blondie," he said in a gruff voice. "The boss' new attack dog is almost finished, and he don't want any intrusions setting anything back."

"Oh, I see," she said, faking surprise. "Just let me get this…" she murmured as she began digging into a pocket of her lab coat and pulled out what appeared to be a small makeup container.

Once she had it, Andrea flipped it open as if to begin adjusting her makeup, but spun around quickly to blow the sleeping agent into the hulking guard's face. The brute had only a moment of recognition before he realized what had happened. By then, it was too late.

His squatter companion, however, had the advantage of realizing that woman was not a common member of the lab team and was able to move out of the way before she could drug him as well.

The agent was forced to jump back as the other guard swung at her. "Well, so you want to dance, huh?" she asked, giving a smirk.

"Oh, yeah," the guard responded. "Took lessons for years." He swung at her again, nearly hitting her hard in the jaw.

At the last minute, however, she ducked, and delivered a hard kick to his legs as well. As soon as he was on the ground, she blew another dose of the sleeping agent, this time making the hit with ease. Both guards were out like a light.

That obstacle now out of the way, Andrea moved into the room. There were some hushed words that she could hear, but not quite make out.

"Doctors," she said as she stepped forwards, "my name is Agent Andrea Dollar. I'm with W.O.M.P. We're prepared to take this place pretty soon, so you'd better be prepared to hightail it out of here."

One of the older men, Dr. Bradford, turned to her to speak. "We are more thankful for your arrival then you can know, Miss Dollar. However, we are going to need assistance. The project we are working on now is of great importance; if this individual is going to live, wither the process needs to be finished here or he needs to be taken to a hospital immediately."

Andrea was about to say something in agreement when she got a closer look at the victim. On the monitor, the man's face had been covered in a white cloth that had obscured it from being seen. However, it was now uncovered, and not only could she see the man's face, she knew who it was. When she recognized him, the blood drained out of her face.

"Gadget! Gadget, speak to me! John!"

She couldn't believe it. No, she could believe it, she just didn't want to. There was no way she wanted to believe that the wounded, bleeding body that was now covered in wires and gears belonged to her missing brother.

"Please, Miss Dollar," the Dr. Brenda Bradford said as she tried to calm the other woman down. "He's been through a lot. You really need to be quiet right now."

"He needs rest," Professor Slickstein agreed. "The process is not quite complete. If we are allowed a bit more time he'll recover completely."

Andrea was then shaken awake by the fact that she was being spoken to. She turned, her face flushed with panic and anger. "That's my brother you're playing cut and paste with, and you expect me to take things quietly?!"

"It's not like that," the elder Bradford said as he attempted to calm the woman who was now more frightened sister than collected agent. "This poor man was kidnapped by Dr. Claw, and he was mutilated by others who belonged to M.A.D. in an attempt to replicate our work. If we had not taken over, your brother would have been dead long ago."

"We will also need to finish the process if he is to have anything resembling an independent life," Slickstein added, once more trying to calm her. "Please, it is in your brother's favor for you to remain as calm as possible right now."

Andrea bit her lip and looked over to where Gadget's face was still showing from the slipped cloth. He was paler than she remembered, and if the silhouette was in the right position, his neck was also too long. She wanted to go find who was responsible for this and go punch them in the face.

She also wanted Gadget to become well again. She nodded. "Alright, just be ready to get him on a transport to a hospital ASAP."

When she was assured that was going to happen, she turned to her signal and flipped it on. In a few moments, the place was flooded with W.O.M.P. agents, and another M.A.D. lab was taken down.

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As consciousness began to flow back into Gadget, he initially struggled against it. The feelings of the covers and pillow were comforting, and he had no desire to wake from the pleasant slumber. It would be much easier to slip back in the ease of sleep than to wake to the pain of…

The pain of what? He couldn't quite remember what had been going on when he had slipped off of to sleep the night before. Had he been cleaning his apartment? That usually caused pain.

No, he hadn't been in his apartment in quite some time. Not since before the wedding.

The wedding, that's right. He had gone to attend Andrea and Daniel's wedding. It must have been the night after. Well, that must have been some reception to cause him to feel the way he was feeling now.

No, that couldn't be it, either. He could remember waking up and going to work several days after the wedding. If only he could wake up.

"Gadget? Gadget, can you hear me?" That sounded like Andrea. What was she doing here? Had he fallen asleep at her house?

"You alright, John?" That was definitely Daniel. The scientist was one of the few people who called him by his proper name.

Gadget gave a moan as he forced himself awake, supposing it would be rude to stay asleep if his sister and brother in law were talking to him. "I'll be up soon," he groaned as he tried to open his eyes.

Once he succeeded, he was surprised to find that he was in a hospital. Andrea and Daniel were to one side, looking down at him with concerned looks on their faces. There were other people in the room, too. Gadget didn't know who these people were, but he supposed they were doctors.

"What happened?" he asked as he looked around, straightening up and looking around. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why he was in a hospital. "Why am I here?"

As he got up, the looks on the people's faces changed. The doctors looked surprised but somewhat relieved. Daniel looked shocked and a bit pale. Andrea looked as if she was about to cry.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" he asked, before looking down at himself.

He had previously assumed that when he had straightened up, he had sat up, but as he glanced down, he could see that was not the case. From his shoulders down he was still lying in the bed as anyone else might. No, when he had straightened up, he had elongated his neck, and was now pretty much hovering about a foot and a half from his body. "Why am I looking at me like this?!"

"Mr. Brown," one of the people he had assumed was a doctor said calmly, "we're going to need to explain a few things to you."

Gadget never took his eyes off of his own body, or the long metal tube that he supposed was now his neck. He merely nodded in response to show he was listening.

The man continued. "Mr. Brown, my name is Doctor Artemis Bradford. Several weeks ago, you were kidnapped by Irving Scolex. Can you remember this?"

Unable to say a word, the startled man only shook his head.

"Well, it happened. We're not certain why, though. It is believed to be a case of mistaken identity, but we are not sure. Regardless, you were kidnapped and forcibly induced into the Gadget Program."

"G-Gadget Program?" the Gadget repeated softly.

"Yes," Dr. Bradford continued. "This was a project initiated by Scolex, under his pseudoname Dr. Claw, as a combination of me and my daughter's research into bionic prosthetics, and Dr. Slickstein's research into defense androids."

"I'm a hardware store." The horror in his voice was quite apparent.

"Uh, well," the doctor said, trying and failing to sound comforting. "I believe the proper term is 'cyborg.'"

That didn't help. A piercing scream rang through the hospital.

"What've you done to me!?" Gadget cried out in alarm. He tried to reach up to feel his head and found to his dismay that it, too, extended. Furthermore, when his fingers brushed his cheek, it wasn't warm fingertip he felt, but cold metal.

In shock, he kicked out, and his leg also extended out, slamming through the adjacent wall. "I'm a freak show!"

The others started to shout to try to get him to calm down, but the alarm was too intense. However, there was one voice that was able to get through to him. "Gadget, please, calm down," Andrea said. Her voice was firm but gentle. "Panicking won't help anything. Please, let us explain."

He looked down at her. Andrea, his little sister. Whatever else he thought of the others in the room, he knew he could trust her.

He did his best to calm himself, though he was not as successful at pulling back his extended appendages. Once he had braced himself enough to listen to the story without freaking out again, he nodded. "Alright. Now, what happened."

"I'm afraid it's a rather long story, Mr. Brown," Dr. Bradford started. "You see, my daughter and I, as well as Professor Slickstein here, were all working on developing a series of robotics enhancements. Brenda and I were working on a series of advanced prosthetic enhancements; in other words, life support machinery or false limbs for those who had lost them in accidents. They were to be bionic and work just as well as the lost parts."

"I was also working in robotics," Slickstein said, picking up. "However, I was working in defense. My development was in android defense, you know, robots who could work in police, firework, or military fields. They would be able to handle more dangerous situations than human officers, and fewer lives would have to be risked in defense."

"Our work, however, was noticed by Dr. Claw, the head of the criminal syndicate M.A.D.," Brenda said, carrying on the narrative. "Or, perhaps as you know him, Irving Scolex. He saw the opportunity to combine the prosthetic bionics with the defense androids' weapons systems, to make the most powerful soldier ever. He was to be undetectable to sight, because he would still resemble the human he had once been, but he would be carrying more weapons than most arsenals and would be fully under M.A.D.'s control. He intended to convert an agent of W.O.M.P. into the super soldier, but do to a case of mistaken identity, got you instead. That's why you were converted into what you are now."

"Okay," Gadget said slowly once they had finished, "I think I've got it. I'll just need you to repeat that last bit."

"What bit do you mean?" Dr. Bradford asked.

"The bit after 'I'm afraid it's a long story, Mr. Brown.'" There was a near unanimous groan at his response.

"He's gotten away for now," Andrea finished, taking Gadget's hand as she spoke, "but we'll catch him. He can't run forever."

Gadget looked down at the hand she was clasping. Much to his relief, he could feel her touch. He wasn't certain how, but despite the metal, his sense of touch wasn't gone, though it was very different. That did, however, bring a dark question to mind.

"So," he said, giving small sigh, "what happens to me now? I'm mean, I obviously have no job now, and I'm not sure anyone will want a…a…" He couldn't bring himself to say the word cyborg.

"Actually," Andrea said with a small smile, "we do have an answer to that, if you like it."

Gadget looked confused for a moment, but Daniel explained. "I was able to speak with some W.O.M.P. authorities, and they became very interested when they heard that the person who was put through the Gadget program was Andrea's brother…"

As he explained just what was being offered, a smile spread across Gadget's face. Perhaps something good could come of this after all…


	4. Chapter Three

"It's a thief! He stole my necklace! Stop him!"

"Bulldog" Broxtoni didn't even bother to look back at the old lady who had shouted out the call. He'd heard such calls hundreds of times before, especially at such a high class gala like this one. Such was to be expected when he was one of M.A.D.'s best agents.

Things were a little more difficult this time, though. W.O.M.P. had sensed that the gala was being targeted by M.A.D. and had decided to send several agents themselves as a precaution.

One of the agents responded as soon as he heard the call. "Hey, you! Stop in the name of the law!"

Bulldog looked back and realized that he was being pursued by the newbie, a recently gained agent known as Inspector Gadget. The thief chuckled, thinking that the new inspector didn't look like all too much. His expression changed when he saw what happened next.

"Go-go gadget skates!" the agent called out. In immediate response, four wheels popped out of each shoe, and a spout of fire came from the back of each, sending the man forwards.

This startled the thief. He hadn't known the new crime fighter was going to be a cyborg. Uncertain what he could do, he froze, considering surrender before the half machine decided to get violent.

However, as soon as he stopped moving, Gadget shot past him. The inspector was moving far too fast to anticipate such a sudden stop, and his sheer momentum took him past the criminal.

"Hey! I wanted to stop!" Gadget called to his skates in frustration. "Go-go stop!" Not understanding what his command meant, the skates kept moving on, sending him straight into a wall.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Bulldog took off in the opposite direction, eager to keep away from the freak show cop. Dr. Claw hadn't said anything about dealing with things like that.

Meanwhile, Inspector Gadget had by now recovered from his crash and turned around in time to see the criminal fleeing in the opposite direction. Quickly, he adjusted his thumb and spoke into his pinkie. "Andrea? You hear me?"

"Loud and clear," his sisters voice came over the built in radio.

"The suspect got away from me, but he's heading your way."

"Got it. He won't be slipping through our fingers this time."

Now that his sister and partner was ready, Gadget took up the chase again. Deciding to take a method of chase that he might be in more control over, he took off running. "Go-go gadget legs!" In response, his legs telescoped out, giving him a longer stride.

Bulldog smirked. He'd escaped the cyborg and had just about made it home free. He could just see the back gateway when he heard something that startled him.

"Stop! Return those jewels immediately!"

The thief looked back to find to his dismay that the cyborg cop had gotten back up and was chasing him again. This time, however, he had extended his legs and now had a freakishly long stride.

Long stride or no, Bulldog now had a long enough head star that if he moved fast enough, he might beat the machine. He just had to barrel forwards, regardless of what was in front of him.

This plan would have worked…had it not been for Gadget tripping over his own stride, causing him to fall forwards, sending knocking a statue into a birdbath, which knocked it on to its side. The garden decor was then sent rolling into the thief, who was knocked heads over tails, right into a net that had been set up to catch him.

The trap sprang, Andrea came out and cuffed the perp just in time for her and Gadget's superior, Chief Quimby, arrival. "Congratulations, Agent Dollar," he said as several cops escorted the thief into a squad car. "We've been trying to catch Broxtoni for months."

"Thanks, Chief," she responded, "but it really wasn't me. I just set the net. It was Gadget who had played the bigger role."

Quimby looked confused and a bit mystified by this response. He had seen Gadget in training before, and things hadn't been hopeful. "Gadget? Really? Well, I suppose congratulations to him are in order. Where is he?"

"Right here, Chief." Gadget had only just caught up, as it had taken a good amount of time to untangle and retract his legs. "Did we get him?"

"Him and the nearly three million dollars' worth of jewels he stole. You did a good job, Gadget."

"I did?" Not fully certain what he did, but sure he must have done something good in order to be praised like this, Gadget beamed. "Well, I guess I did. All in a day's work," he responded, giving an awkward smile.

And so began the career of the famous (and infamous) Inspector Gadget. Time after time and mission after mission, Gadget made a name for himself in the way that it seemed impossible for him to lose a case. It didn't seem to matter who Claw sent after him, Gadget would find a way through the most unorthodox means possible to not only come out alive, but expose and arrest the agents sent. No one was really certain how he did it.

Of course, it wasn't always him. Often, Andrea working in tandem with Daniel would be working on the bulk of the case, allowing Gadget to pursue his own leads while they worked on the background of the case. For some reason, this always worked out for the best, since it allowed them to gather the information, while Gadget ended up catching the perp, so that no loose ends were left behind. If they didn't get the credit, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that M.A.D. was being stopped.

Thus, one of the happiest times of Gadget's life had come. He was living his dream of being a real law enforcement officer. He was working closely with his sister and her family, so he was not alone. Indeed, there were few things could have made this time any more exciting.

After about two years, one such event occurred.

"Hello, little Penny," Andrea cooed over her newborn child. "Did you have a good nap? I hope so, because there's someone whose coming to meet you today!"

Sitting in the rocking chair in the newly set up nursery, Andrea carefully rocked her daughter, who was still a little fussy about having woken up. Lifting the baby up, she began nursing, which was sufficient to quiet the little girl.

"So, you've heard back from John?" Daniel asked, handing his wife the burping towel.

"Uh-huh," his wife responded. "Just got the call today. He'll be here in around a half hour. He seemed rather upset he couldn't make Penny's birth, but there's only so much one can do when M.A.D.'s planning to auction off weapons of mass destruction. They stopped it just in time, too."

"I'll bet you Data's ready for the break," her husband laughed, thinking of the W.O.M.P. agent who had been assigned to be Gadget's partner while Andrea was on maternity leave.

"Oh, she's just being a drama queen, as usual," Andrea responded, rolling her eyes. "Data hates it whenever she has to share credit with anyone."

"Especially anyone she looks down on." The scientist shook his head as he thought back to the reports of the last few mission. "I have to admit, your brother sure has a way of making a spectacle of himself. It must burn Data how the press tends to drift towards him."

"Well, after the last few tags he made, there's no way the press would ignore him." The blonde woman chuckled as she leaned her daughter against her shoulder and began to pat her back. "I have to wonder how many of those were purely accidental."

"More than anyone knows. Even him, I'll bet," Daniel responded.

After that had been said, there was a ring at the doorbell. "Well, speak of the devil," the scientist commented. "Here, dear. I'll go get the door."

Sure enough, when he opened the door, standing right outside was Gadget. "Morning, Daniel!" he greeted, shaking his brother in law's hand just a little too hard. "Great to see you again!"

"Great to see you again, too, John," Daniel responded, returning the smile, albeit not in as enthusiastic a way. He could never understand where all the cyborg's energy came from. "Come on in, you must be tired from your trip."

"Thanks, but I'm just fine. I had Data to talk to, after all," the Inspector pointed out. "I invited her to come, and she said she'd rather walk barefoot over gravel than get into a taxi with me." He shrugged. "I guess she's just into fitness like that."

Daniel did his best to smother a laugh, well aware Gadget wouldn't understand what was so funny. Thankfully, by then Andrea had come in, holding Penny in a sling carrier.

"Gadget, it's good to see you!" She eagerly hugged her brother as she came in. "Did everything go well with the mission?"

He nodded. "We found the weapons, though it wasn't easy to do so. Did you know M.A.D. was storing them in a Yoga classroom?"

"I see," she laughed, realizing with her brother that could mean anything from a missile bunker to an outright war room.

Gadget leaned down, looking into to sling as he did so. "So, this is Penny?" he asked, though the answer was rather obvious.

"Yep," his sister responded, taking the little girl out of the sling as she spoke. "Penelope Sophia Dollar." She handed the child over to her brother, watching closely and staying very close by to make sure she could intervene if necessary.

It didn't see to be the case, however. As soon as the infant was placed in his arms, Gadget sat down, supporting the little one as he did so. It was like he had been doing this all his life.

"Sophia?" he asked, smiling with memory as he spoke. "That was Mom's name."

"Yep," Andrea responded, sitting next to him. "Penelope was Daniel's mother's name. It seemed right that she had both names."

"Even if it does open up to the pun," Daniel commented. As usual, he wasn't all too fond of nicknames, but as Andrea loved the nickname Penny, it just stuck.

Gadget gave him a blank look, confused by the comment. "What pun?"

Before the question could be answered, Penny herself decided to speak up. It had taken her a moment, but she was now full aware that the person holding her was not her mother, and she decided to protest that problem.

Hearing the fussing, Gadget immediately responded. "Oh, dear, did I do something wrong?" He looked with concern over at his sister.

Andrea shook her head. "No, Penny just gets a little bit fussy with new people."

"Oh." A look of relief came to his face, now assured he hadn't done anything wrong. He then turned back to the baby. "Hi there," he said, trying his best to think of something that would calm the infant down. "Uh, it's nice to meet you. Please don't cry."

As he spoke, an arm popped out of the top of his hat, holding a rattle, which he shook in an attempt to interest little Penny. This seemed to do the trick, as the moment it popped out, she immediately stopped crying, and instead stared, as if dumbstruck by the fact that people could have arms in their heads.

Seeing her wide-eyed look, Gadget became further dismayed. "It looks like I scared her," he said in a disappointed tone of voice. He turned to hand Penny back to Andrea.

Far from scared, however, Penny was fascinated by the mechanical appendage. As she was handed back to her mother, she reached up and grabbed the mechanical arm, determined to get a closer look.

"I wouldn't say she seems very afraid," Daniel laughed as he helped his brother in law break the infant's iron grip.

"Well," Andrea couldn't help but laugh once they had successfully gotten the appendage freed, "we now know she likes you."

As time went on, the small family spent a lot more time together. Penny knew her uncle very well as she grew up. His condition had never worried her in the least, and indeed, continued to fascinate her just as much as it had on their first meeting. To the little girl, that was just the way he always had been. Her Uncle Gadget was the best person she could think of, with exception of her Mommy and Daddy, and she could not imagine him being any different.

Time were not completely without trouble, though. Even though he had been unmasked, Claw was still active and aggressive in his attacks. It seemed as if no crime were beyond his ability to set off. Robbery, murder, kidnapping, it didn't matter.

This he completed through the workings of M.A.D. Though he had lost control of Scolex Industries, M.A.D. still ran and thrived. Very often, these crimes would be investigated, but the leads went nowhere and the criminal got away.

These were not the cases that the Dollar-Brown clan were put in charge of. Much to the enragement of Dr. Claw and the confusion of W.O.M.P. heads, any case that Inspector Gadget and Agent Dollar were told to look into was quickly uncovered, taken down, and the perpetrators locked up. It seemed as if it was impossible for them to lose.

There were some exceptions, with one such investigation happened three years after the child had been born. It had initially just been an investigation into some mysterious thefts from a variety of pharmaceuticals.

"This place gives me the creeps," Andrea muttered as she and her brother wandered through the apparently empty laboratory that they were searching out for clues. They had been too late, and just about everything had been cleared out, but the air of menace still hung. "It's just like the sort of place you might find a monster or a ghost hanging around."

"Now, don't tell me you're starting to believe in ghosts," Gadget responded, a tone of criticism in his voice. "Those things are just silly superstitions. The real dangers in the world come from evil people, not specters of people who were once alive."

"I'm not arguing with you there." His sister gave a laugh. "It's just that this would seem to be the place that those types of people would hang out at just for the fun of it."

They moved along through the empty corridors, but there didn't seem to be anything left. Whoever had been here once upon a time had clearly packed up and headed out, not wanting to have to deal with W.O.M.P., the police, or anyone like that.

They were about to turn and go when there was a small whimpering sound. "What was that?" Andrea asked, turning her to face where the sound had come from.

"It's probably some trap M.A.D. left behind," her brother responded. "I'd better check it out. Go-go Gadget Flashlight." The top of his middle finger popped open, allowing the small flashlight hidden within to be revealed.

The sound had come from under a stack of files that had been left in the corner of the office. It wasn't clear what was making the sound, and nothing could be seen from the front of the drawers at all, so Gadget got down to get a look under it.

"Wowzers!" he declared when he finally caught a glimpse of what was making the sound. "There's a dog under here!"

Andrea got down to see what Gadget was pointing out, and sure enough, there was about one of the saddest looking puppies she had ever seen. The poor little thing was bone thin, and his smooth yellow and white fur was dirty and matted in some places. He looked at the two humans, wide-eyed with fear, and let out another piteous whimper.

"Oh, the poor little thing!" Andrea declared. She reached out to the puppy, trying to coax him to her.

The puppy looked at her and at Gadget for a moment, as if trying to decide whether he trusted them or not. Eventually, he crept closer and sniffed her hand. However, he seemed to decide he didn't want to risk it, and crept back again.

"I know what will help!" Gadget declared. "Go-go Gadget-"

"No, no, it's alright!" his sister interrupted as fast as she could. She had no doubt he thought whatever it was he was about to bring out would help. She also had no doubt that it would scare the poor little dog off. "I can handle it, that's alright."

Gadget shrugged. "If that's what you want."

She reached out again to the puppy. "Come here, little fella. It's alright. We won't hurt you."

The puppy sat for a minute. He hadn't had good experiences with humans before, but none of the humans he knew had ever acted like this. Eventually, curiosity overcame caution, and he crept forwards and came to the woman's hand.

"There now," she said, stroking the puppy's fur as she spoke. "There's a good little fella." She gently picked the little dog up and examined him. "Poor little thing must have been an experimentation animal," she said, still petting the little dog to keep him calm. "He seems pretty anxious, as if he was almost expecting something bad to happen at a moment's notice."

"Well, if M.A.D. had him, then that's no surprise." Gadget crossed his arms as he spoke. "They'll stop at nothing before everything that's good in the world is destroyed. I have to wonder what they'd want a dog for, though."

"He does seem a bit to small to be an attack dog," Andrea nodded in agreement, "and I don't recognize the breed. We'd better take this little guy to the vet and have him checked out, but it seems he's just a normal dog."

Once checked out, there didn't seem to be much different about the puppy. However, he still seemed anixous around most people except the Dollar-Brown clan, so it was decided that he should go home with them, and little Brain was brought into the clan as well. Penny, who was now old enough to have an interest in animals, was especially pleased with the new addition.

This unveiling had been the last straw for Claw, however. A lot of time, money, and investigation had gone into that puppy, and now not only had the animal escaped during the experimentation transfer, but it had been given as a present to the daughter of one of his greatest enemies. It was then that the crime lord decided firmly that the Dollar-Brown clan needed to be dealt with, personally.

When the attack came, it was completely unexpected. It was a night not long after Penny's third birthday. The little girl had been happily playing with her puppy in the living room as her parents prepared for dinner. This was a typical night for the little family, and all was at ease.

There was suddenly a knock at the door. Hearing this, Penny eagerly ran to the door. "I get it!" she called out excitedly, fully expecting that it would be her uncle having dropped by to spend the evening.

Neither Andrea not Daniel had a problem with this. Gadget had been working late that evening doing some paperwork at W.O.M.P. HQ, but it was not uncommon for him to be sent home early. Usually because he had the unfortunate and unintentional habit of making any paperwork he turned in to Quimby explode. Occasionally, he'd even be temporarily banned from the main offices, such as when he found a way to utterly incinerate Colonel Alphons Nozziare's entire office with nothing more than a paperclip and three Tic-Tacs. It had taken orders from General Sir himself before the cyborg agent was allowed in again.

The calm of the evening had been shattered the moment Penny could be heard speaking. "You not N'Uncle Gadge'," the toddler could be heard addressing the stranger she met at the door. "Who you?" There was no response from the newcomer, but the more panic sound of the child screaming came instead.

Both her parents were rushing to the door when they heard that the arrival was not the expected relative. When they made it there, they found to their horror that standing in the frame was Dr. Claw himself with several M.A.D. agents flanking him. He had grabbed the child roughly and had a gun in one hand.

Without bothering to say a word, both parents charged ahead, desperate to save their daughter. This had been exactly what Claw had been expecting. With a swift movement, he pointed the gun directly and fired. The first shot had hit Daniel right in the forehead, and the scientist fell without another word.

Andrea had been a bit faster, but had been struck on the side by one of the agents as he and the others pushed past and into the house. Knocked off her balance by the attack and having none of the weaponry she would have typically had on her when facing M.A.D., she was put at a vast disadvantage. She was desperate not to slow down, though, since her daughter had been on the line.

Her attempt, though valiant, had amounted to nothing. Only a minute after he had murdered her husband, Claw turned the gun on her and fired twice, hitting twice in the torso. She fell just as Daniel had fallen a moment ago, and though she was still alive, she knew she didn't have all too much time left.

For poor little Penny, this was all too much. In a swift instant, her whole world had been utterly destroyed. In front of her, her father was dead and her mother lay dying, and she herself was helpless in the grasp of the monster who had killed them.

Claw looked down in disgust at the two figures that lay before him. Even those who had been so problematic when they were prepared were so easily slain when they felt that they were safe.

He immediately turned away when he heard the men coming in. "Well, where are they?"

"We couldn't find the puppy, sir," the agent answered, "and there wasn't any sign of anyone else here."

"So the cyborg wasn't here today?" Claw murmured to himself. This would be trouble. True, he had come with the intention of wiping out every threat to his empire that existed, but he was more interested in neutralizing Gadget than his less impressive family members.

It was then that he noticed, almost for the first time, that he still held the sobbing Penny in one arm. "No matter," he said aloud. "We're heading back now."

"But the cyborg-" the agent began.

"Is of no matter at the moment." Claw waved a hand as he interrupted his agent. He then gave the crying toddler a cruel grin. "We now have something that will bring him to us."

Gadget was heading home that evening without a care in the world. He had, for once, been able to finish his work with a minimal amount of damage to the surrounding area, and was looking forwards to a restful evening.

As he was moving along, he looked up at the clouds, so he didn't notice something running right for him until it had reached him and he had tripped over it. It took a moment of untangling before he realized that what he had tripped over was a puppy.

"Brain?" he asked in confusion when he recognized the little ball of fur. "What are you doing here? It's getting late; Penny must be worried about you."

Brain whimpered in frustration and tugged as hard as he could on the inspector's coat. He had to figure out a way to get the human to the Dollar house. Those intruders meant harm; he could tell that from their demeanor. The little dog could only hope that he wasn't already too late.

For his part, though, Gadget couldn't understand what was being told to him. "Not now, Brain," he scolded. "It's too late to play right now."

If the puppy could have face-palmed, he would have. Not for the first time did he wish that either he could speak human or humans could speak dog. Since that wasn't going to be happening any time soon, though, he supposed he'd just have to do his best with what he had.

As the little dog continued doing his best to pull the much larger human along with him, Gadget finally gave up and picked the puppy up. "Alright, that's enough," he scolded. "I suppose I'll just have to take you back home myself."

Inwardly, Brain gave a sigh of relief. He might not have gotten the urgency of the message through to Gadget, but at least he had set the human off on the right path.

By the time they arrived, however, they were already too late. It was clear, even when they were still outside of the house, that something was majorly wrong.

"Wowsers," Gadget muttered when he saw the broken down door. "What happened here?"

He sped up, breaking into a run as he got closer, the realization of what had happened hitting him the closer he got. When he made it in, it was clear that the worst had already happened.

There, in the threshold, lay both Daniel and Andrea. Daniel was clearly dead. The bullet hole in his forehead was clear enough to be seen. Andrea lay nearby, still alive but fading fast.

Gadget rushed to his sister's side when he saw her. "Andrea!" he called out in alarm. "What happened? Who did this?"

The blonde woman could barely move, and didn't look at him, though she did speak. "Gadget? He found us, Gadget. He found us."

"Who? Who found you?"

"Scolex…Claw…" Andrea's voice was growing weaker as she spoke. "He found us. He attacked…not much we could do…was looking for you and Brain, too…and Penny…oh, Penny!" As she said her daughter's name, the woman burst into tears.

At the moment, Gadget felt helpless. It wasn't a feeling he liked. "Where is Penny?" he asked, voice quivering with emotion that was veering between anguish and rage. "What did he do to Penny?"

"He's got her," Andrea answered through tears. "I think he's going to use her to try to trap you." She broke down again into tears.

When he heard this, a rare moment of lucidness came into Gadget's eyes. As he spoke, there was an uncharacteristic tone of firmness in his voice. "Andrea, I'm going to call an ambulance. Once I've done so, I'll find her. I won't rest until I've found her." He then took off his coat and placed it under his sister's head before going to fulfil the first part of his vow.

Once he left, Andrea turned to Brain, who was waiting on hand, desperately trying to understand what was going on. She smiled at the puppy. "Brain," she said, speaking so as to catch the puppy's attention. "Please, listen to me, Brain."

Brain, had until then been sitting nearby, feeling completely useless. He'd failed his home, his family. Mother and Father were hurt and dead, respectively, and he had failed to do anything of substance. Upon hearing the call, however, he turned to her. He threw a smart salute to make it clear that he was listening and eager to do something to make this whole debacle right.

Andrea gave a small smile as she spoke. "Brain, I need you to do something for me. I will need you to keep a watch over Penny and Gadget for me. You'll do that, won't you?"

The dog made a small sound of confusion. She was going to be better, right? After all, the other human, her brother, was going to call for a doctor, wasn't he?

She smiled again, as if anticipating what the puppy was thinking. "The ambulance won't make it here on time," she said in a hushed voice.

"Gadget is a wonderful man, and I know he'll find Penny and take good care of her," she continued, turning back to her sad topic. "However, when it comes to being a detective, that is rather another story. He needs to be guided and protected from the dangers he faces, and because of this, Penny will need the protection too. I am trusting you with my family, Brain. Can you do this for me?"

The puppy was rather anxious about what was being asked of him, but he loved his family very much. He quickly threw a smart salute as if to give his assurance that everything and everyone would be taken care of after her death.

Once she had had the assurance, she gave another of the mournful smiles and stroked the dog's ear. "Thank you," she said in a hushed voice, before becoming deathly quiet.

It was then that Gadget came back to assure his sister that help was on the way. When he saw her, it became clear that he had been too late. Without saying a word, he bent down and closed Andrea's eyes for the last time.


	5. Chapter Four

For poor little Penny, the last few hours of her life had been sheer hell on earth. She had witnessed the murder of her parents. She fully expected the man, or as she decided, the monster to then turn his weapon on her, but he didn't. Instead, he had taken her away with him, pulling her into the dark car that was outside, and had now taken her to some sort of plane. She knew it was all over.

Once onboard the plane, she had been tossed into a small cage and then left alone. This had all been too much for the little girl, who was not used to such harsh treatment. Even the most severe punishments she received when she was naughty was nothing like this.

She also thought back to her parents. Before that day, she, like most children her age, had somewhat assumed that her parents were invincible; that no matter what, they'd always be there. Then, this monster came and shattered that notion right in front of her. She'd seen her Daddy die, and her Mommy fall right next to him. These beasts had come specifically to shatter the little family.

They were looking for Brain and Uncle Gadget, too. She heard the bad men guarding her talking about it. They were hoping that her uncle would come for her, and then they'd kill him, too.

The little girl quietly buried her face and sobbed, wishing this nightmare would end soon.

Gadget's movements were uncharacteristically silent as he went through the corridors of the jet. He knew that, somewhere in here, Claw was hiding Penny. He couldn't for the life of him think as to why the villain would want his niece, but he knew for certain that it couldn't be for any good reason. He knew by experience that whatever Scolex had in mind for kidnapped victims was not fun.

He had already left a message at W.O.M.P. HQ about what he was doing and hoped that they would send backup so that he wouldn't have to face M.A.D. all alone. However, he didn't have time to wait to make sure that the backup would be sent. Claw had murdered Andrea and Daniel, which suggested that he wanted to do something to their daughter. Whatever it was, "Gadget" Brown was determined to stop it, before they got started.

Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to get around the jet. There was a little movement as the aircraft turned, but as long as he could keep his footing, everything went unusually well.

He was about to head down another passageway when he heard voices coming from what looked to him to be an ordinary wall. Making certain that no one was coming his way, Gadget crouched down and pressed his head against the panel.

"Go-go gadget Ears." A cone appeared on the side of his head, allowing him to have a clearer listen on whatever was being said.

Now that the sound had been turned up, he could hear faint sobbing, which he near instantly recognized as Penny. There were other people in there as well.

"Shut it!" This came from a snarly voiced man. "I've had it up to here with the water-works! I wish we'd land soon so that we can get rid of the brat."

"Or better yet," another voice, this one thinner and more weasel-like, commented, "just chuck her out of the jet. Then we wouldn't have to dispose of the body later."

Hearing this, Gadget fumed. Quickly, he began to work on a way into the room to free his niece. Inside, the guards continued speaking, completely unaware of the intruder.

"I'd be careful with talk like that," a third man added. "The Boss had a reason for holding on to the kid, and you know how he feels about being questioned.

"We all know what that reason is, Jervis," the weasel-voiced one responded. "It's so that half-wit robocop'll feel the need to go out lookin' for her, an' then the Boss can snuff him out, just like he did his sister an' the scientist."

"Well, I don't like this one bit," the rough voiced one from before said. "I've heard stories about this guy. He's not human, I tell ya."

"'Course he's not human, Fred," weasel-voice sneered. "He's some sort of machine hybrid."

"You know what I mean, Squirt," Fred sneered. "You've heard the stories, too. They say he's impossible to kill."

"I'll believe that when I see it," the shorter man laughed

"Well, I haven't seen it, but I know a guy who has." Fred here dropped his tone, as if anxious about being overheard. "You know Slick?"

Squirt snorted. "'Course I know him. What's that got to do with the price of eggs in China?"

"Well, he's seen the cyborg," the brute continued. "Said he tried to run him over with a sixteen wheeler. Got a good hit in, too. Sent the guy flying. Slick was certain he'd been iced."

"So?" Squirt laughed in response. "Slick didn't get as good a shot as he thought. What about it?"

Fred shook his head. "No, he got the shot. The 'borg just shook it off. Got up like he didn't even feel it."

"Oh, I felt it, alright. Just like you'll feel this."

Fred and Squirt could only look up for a moment in shock before their heads were knocked together, knocking them both out. They hadn't noticed that while they were arguing, Gadget had successfully gotten in and restrained Jervis. Now that all the guards were unconscious, he quickly went to work at freeing his niece.

Penny had been sitting as far back as the cage would allow when she heard his voice. With everything that had been going on, it was almost too good to be true. However, she was too young to believe in too good to be true, so she rushed to the front as fast as she could. "N'Uncle Gadge'?"

"Right here, kiddo." Relief flooded Gadget when he heard Penny's voice. He had been worried that she had been harmed severely, but it seemed that she was only scared and shaken up.

He was able to get through the bars like they were made of paper, and as soon as the gateway was opened up, the toddler flung herself into his arms. Now safe in her uncle's care, she began to sob again. "T'e bad men comed, N'Uncle Gadge'," she whimpered. "T'ey comed an' t'ey hu'ted Mommy an' Daddy. I so sca'ed."

"It's alright, angel, I've got ya." Straitening up, he tucked the crying child under his coat to shield her. "I won't let them hurt you."

"We go home now?" Penny looked up at him, trust shining in her eyes.

"As soon as we can figure out a way out of here." Gadget looked around, scanning for any possible solution. Honestly, in his heat to rescue his niece from the murderer, he hadn't come up with a plan of escape. He'd made it there using his 'Copter, but he wasn't quite sure he could use it and hold onto Penny. The Coat might have been more preferable, but he wasn't sure if there would be any place to land. The Jet Pack was out of the question; Professor Slickstein had warned him that with the bugs in his system, there would be problems with that one.

As such, he ran through the ship, looking for anything that might give an alternate method of escape. Thankfully, as before, things were pretty much empty, allowing for free movement.

In fact, things were too empty. Of course, the good inspector didn't know this, but under most circumstances, there would have been agents and crewmen wandering the halls everywhere. The current emptiness was unnatural, like a trap that had been left waiting.

Indeed, it had been a trap. The one who left it open followed closely from the shadows.

Gadget had nearly made it to the front of the jet when the figure decided to reveal himself. "Well, Brown, we meet again. Or, should I say, Inspector Gadget?"

The detective spun around when he heard this, protectively clutching Penny closer to himself as he did so. "Dr. Claw."

The man laughed. "You're looking well, all things considered. Better than well. I suppose you've adapted to my little present?"

The detective made no response to the comment, but this did not seem to bother his opponent in the slightest. He had a gun in one hand, which he handled in a carefree manner, as if it were a toy.

"It seems my men were mistaken," Claw commented, shrugging and calmly twirling the gun in one hand. "I had heard you were rather talkative when you were on mission. Maybe that's only when you have that sister of yours present?"

"What do you want?" Gadget asked darkly. "To kill me? You'll need a bit more than that to do so. You should know that."

"Oh, I don't want to kill you," the villain responded. "You see, I made you to work for M.A.D., and I intend to get you there. This is only an insurance that you'll hear me out. After all, you might not be harmed by a bullet, but," he commented, motioning to the sobbing child who was hiding herself in the trench coat, "I'm not sure she'd be so durable. Her parents certainly weren't."

At the clear threat to Penny, Gadget became even more protective. Shifting the child onto his back and holding on to her with two of the arms from his hat, he withdrew the most weapon-like tool he knew of. "Go-go Gadget Laser." Responding to the summoning, his thumb flipped back to reveal the bright red light, just waiting to be fired.

"So, you're not quite as dim as I initially guessed." Claw laughed, unaffected by Gadget's unspoken counter threat. "Perhaps then you'll take me up on my deal."

"I don't make deals with criminals." The inspector's voice was hard and cold.

"Really, is that what you think I am?" The overlord had a look of mock injury on his face. "Really, Brown, that hurts. I prefer to think of myself as a business man."

"Funny," Gadget responded, doing his best to keep emotion from tinging his voice. "I fail to see how killing a couple and abducting their daughter could be considered business. I see it as murder and kidnapping, and you are under arrest for both charges."

"It was contingency planning." Claw shrugged, as if he were merely giving an explanation for an unusual course of action, rather than a horrific crime. "Your sister and brother in law were getting in my way, and I needed some way to get them out of the picture. You were too, and I might need to take you out as well, provided you don't see the wisdom in my offer.

"Think of things this way," he said calmly. "All of this, this struggle between M.A.D. and W.O.M.P., it's all about power; who has more of it and who can express it the most. Good and evil aren't in the cards; it's all about what you do to gain power. You see, we're not that different. Look at you, for instance. The W.O.M.P. executives condemned the work of the Gadget Program, but didn't hesitate for a minute in recruiting its result. How long do you think it will be before they begin working on Cyborgs of their own? After all, you being the success you are, why would anyone want to stop? I'll bet you that right now, the techies back at H.Q. are working on the Gadget Model 2.0, as we speak.

"The only difference right now, between the two of us, is the fact that I'm working for myself, while you merely act on orders, reaping benefits for those who haven't done a thing to earn them for themselves. But it doesn't have to be that way." Claw held out his hand to Gadget as he spoke. "Join me. Use my gift to you to gain the power you've always wanted; the power you've always dreamed of. By joining M.A.D., there will be nothing that will be closed off to you. So, what do you say?"

Both men stood stock still for a moment, but that tension was soon cut by the oddest of sounds: a laugh. "You're so full of it, you know that?" Gadget responded simply, chuckling as he spoke. "You talk all this baloney about us really not being different and how good and evil don't play a role, when what brought me here in the first place was murder and kidnapping. Those two things are pretty evil if you ask me."

"As for it all being a power grab," the inspector went on, "that's a load too. Last I checked, it wasn't us who attempted a bombing in London as blackmail against N.A.T.O. It wasn't us who were selling weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East to instigate warfare. It most certainly wasn't us who came up with the idea of mutilating innocent people to make brainwashed soldiers to use against our enemies. It might be all a power grab to you, but to us, it's about protecting those who can't protect themselves. I would never dream of fighting for any other reason."

"So as to your deal, you can forget it," Gadget finished. "As I said before, Irving Scolex, you are under arrest on the charges of the murder of Daniel and Andrea Dollar, the kidnapping of Penelope Dollar, and attempting to bribe an officer."

His response seemed to have ruffled the villain, albeit briefly, but Claw quickly recomposed himself. "You had your chance." With that, he fired, aiming at the child who had been peering over her uncle's shoulder.

Thankfully, Gadget was able to respond quickly, activating his legs to that he was able to move Penny out of the range of fire. The bullet pierced his coat, but did no more damage than that.

The inspector then responded, firing off a shot of his own with the laser. He had been aiming at the gun, but his aim was off and instead he ended up shooting Claw's hand instead. The damage done was not very severe, but it was enough to force the criminal to drop his weapon.

This change didn't do much, except to make Claw madder. In a burst of rage, he charged Gadget, catching the cyborg by surprise and sending him tumbling head over tails. The fall sent him crashing into several shelves, and sent Penny tumbling into another direction.

Seeing that the toddler had been separated from her guardian, Claw rushed at her, attempting to grab the youngster's leg. However, Gadget had seen the move, too, and he responded by pulling the villain back.

The two men fought feverously for a few minutes. Gadget had the upper hand in his gadgetry, but he was unused to grappling like this. Furthermore, while he was fighting to restrain, Claw was fighting to kill, and was thus attacking in a much more brutal, ruthless fashion.

Desperate to help her uncle, Penny looked around to try to find something that would allow her to stop the monster's attack. That was when she spotted the gun, which had skidded near the door, a good distance off from the two men.

As quickly as she could, the child snatched up the gun. However, despite her good intentions, she had absolutely no idea how it worked, other than you point. She tried to fire it several times, but to her dismay, nothing happened. Frustrated and feeling helpless again, the toddler began fiddling around with it, trying to figure out the way it work.

Penny was still trying to figure out how the weapon worked when a bit of turbulence caused the plane to rock. In surprise, the child dropped the weapon, which finally fired off a shot. However, the shot went off in the direction away from the men, and instead of stopping the fight that was at hand, the bullet lodged itself into the controls of the plane.

An alarm went off as soon as the bullet had let its mark. The plane soon began tumbling even more violently, heading in a downward spiral as it lost control.

Seeing his opportunity, Claw shoved a now even more disoriented Gadget away and charged at the frightened child. Without a moment's hesitation, he snatched up the girl, dragged her to the door on one side, and flung her out.

Gadget had only looked up for a moment when he realized what was happening. He caught a glimpse just as Penny disappeared from view, and without waiting a single moment, jumped out after her.

Scolex let out a laugh, feeling victorious in the belief that he had finally rid himself of that troublesome family. There was no was the man and child would be able to survive a drop like that.

His victory was short lived, however. As he turned back to the controls, he found that they had been too severely damaged by the gun shots, and everything was out of control. He realized far too late that the plane was going to crash.

It hadn't taken long after Gadget had jumped after Penny for him to catch her. Bringing the child closer, he now had the far more urgent task of figuring out some way to slow their fall.

"Go-go Gadget Parachute!" The top of his hat opened in response, only for a few strings to come out. That's right, he scolded himself. The parachute was in repairs.

Well, he had to have something else, didn't he?

"Go-go Gadget Coat!" There was a loud hissing sound as the gas the coat was trying to fill itself with leaked out of the bullet hole. Well, that wasn't going to do.

"Go-go Gadget Copter!" Helicopter blades emerged…and were promptly tangled up the strings that were still attached. This caused enough damage that both propeller and strings ripped free of the hat.

By now, Gadget was desperate. "Go-go Gadget Wings! Go-go Gadget Parasail! Go-go Gadget Air Bag! Go-go Gadget Trampoline! Go-go Gadget Parasol! Go-go Gadget 'Brella!"

Much to his surprise, at the last one, his hat opened up again, and a big black umbrella emerged from the top of it. Beyond all realm of possibility, the umbrella opened up and successfully began to slow their fall. After a few moments, they landed in a cornfield, shaken up but otherwise none the worse for wear.

"That worked?" The inspector looked up in surprise at his hat, where the umbrella was taking its former position. "That worked! We're alive!" He laughed aloud with the sheer joy of being alive.

He joyfully spun Penny around. "We did it!" he exclaimed again. "We made it out!"

"He gone now?" The three year old looked up at her uncle. She was still a bit frightened, but trusted that her uncle knew what was going on.

"Yes he's gone!" Gadget calmed down a little, but he was still completely cheerful. "And you have my word, Penny, that I will not allow anyone to take you away again."

Any more discussion was interrupted by an explosion. They turned to see where the plane had crashed, not too far away.

"Wowsers," Gadget murmured under his breath. "That's going to take a lot of explaining.

Darkness. At first that was all Claw could sense. There was an overarching darkness and cold, the likes of which he had never felt before.

Soon, however, that began to fade away, and he could see again. Standing in front of him was Dr. Spectrum, one of the many scientists who Claw held in his employ. There were assistants behind him, and none of them looked eager to speak

"What is happening?" Claw asked, and much to his shock, his voice was very different. It harsher and more raspy, more like a growl and a whisper put together than any sort of speaking voice. "What is going on?"

The doctor looked on fearfully before deciding to answer. "Well, Mr. Scolex sir, you were in a plane accident, you see. You were facing the cyborg when there was a problem with the controls. You crashed. We were able to get you out before the police or W.O.M.P. arrived, but there was severe damage. We had to work fast, you see. After Gadget called them in-"

"What!? Gadget survived!?" Claw growled. His minions began to stutter out excuses, so he cut them off. "Never mind that for now. How severe was the damage?"

"W-well," the minion went on, "most primarily, you had no arms. What was left after the accident needed to be amputated. I took the liberty of designing several prosthetics using what notes we had left from the Gadget Program, so you won't be helpless."

Claw looked down at the robotic limbs that were now his arms. They were very well constructed, and almost didn't resemble cybernetics.

"Along with the damages to your arms," Spectrum continued, "there was also damage to your vocal folds, as well as your face."

"My face?" Claw started when he heard that. "What happened to my face? Bring me a mirror now!"

"Uh, Mr. Scolex, sir," one of the assistants said as he obeyed the command. "We did our best to repair the damage, but there wasn't a lot we could do."

"Scolex is dead," the villain growled as he took the mirror. "I am Dr. Claw, now and forever!"

Claw looked into the mirror and saw the damage that had been done. Inside, he felt anger and hate seething inside him. Hate for the one whose fault this was. Hate for the man who had turned down his offer. Hate for the man who had dared to laugh at him.

"I'll get you, Gadget! Next time!"

**Author's Note:**

> Initiation will be the origin story that ties to my fics. I know there are a lot of origin stories out there, but I've got something bigger in mind, and I believe it is best to know where someone is coming from before the story proper starts. I hope you like this!


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